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stringing steel rackets

sometimes i wonder if they are even worth the effort. but anyway, i was recently handed 2 steel rackets by a client. both are Yonex. the condition are OK looking. but not in the best of shape (sorry for the pun.... ).

do they even take 20lbs tension without severe deformation? my WISE only go as low as 20lbs. anything else to watch out for?

it starts to bother me when the value of the stringjob is higher than the value of the racket.

I have done Cab 8 for a 25lbs job without problem, anything value less than a Cab 8 I tell my clients not to bother, they will understand is not worth it to have stringjob cost more than the racquet. Usually by this time, I have my racquet catalog out. lol By the way, if someone asks for

recently i sent my sis's racquet for restringing because she refused any modern racquets and was sentimentally attached to the old yonex isometric 22 VF? racquet. with aluminium frame, steel shaft.
my stringer was quite against stringing it citing that it would deform and we eventually settled for 18 pounds tension, and the price of the string (bg65) + stringing service probably costed more than the racquet itself..

my stringer then showed me racquets that i could get for only $12... some strange brand china composite, possibly graphite containing racquets with a build in t-joint..and factory strung, it feels/swings better than the iso22vf though.. but i had no choice

i strung such a steel/alu composite racket last year. the rackets shape was awful, so i corrected the shape with my mountpoints of the stringing machine and strung the racket (with a WISE) on 9kg with !no pre-stretch! and with no problems. The shape after the stringing was not perfect, but better than before the stringjob.

Well I guess as a stringer, its not really our call to say whether it's worth doing.

I used to play at a club where a senior gentleman played only with this t-joint, alu carbonexes - to good effect I might add. It was what he was used to and the feel he likes from a racquet. So although it may not be worth much more than a packet of strings, it meant a lot to him.

I wouldn't string an aluminium frame at more than about 22-23lb, less if it's obviously been in a few battles.

well, strung them. very uneventful process, actually. they are some low end Yonex and Wilson rackets. 72holes pattern with huge cheap grommets that are easy to thread. the frame is pretty stiff so there isn't much deformation to speak of, esp at 20lbs.

the spacing is all over the place though, the middle strings are spaced further apart then the side strings. which is probably a sign that the guy who decides on the grommet spacing didn't take into account that the side strings are at an angle to the frame so the grommet should've been further apart to result in the same spacing as the mid strings.